Bucknell University Athletics
Blue Team Prevails 62-59 in Bucknell Men's Basketball Intrasquad Scrimmage
10/31/2006 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Oct. 31, 2006
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Darren Mastropaolo scored a team-high 13 points, including two big free throws in the closing seconds to lead the "Blue" team to a come-from-behind 62-59 victory in Bucknell's annual Blue-Orange Scrimmage Tuesday night at Sojka Pavilion.
Josh Linthicum and Patrick Behan scored 11 points each, while Abe Badmus had nine points, six rebounds and four assists for the Blue, which overcame a 10-point first-half deficit. Jason Vegotsky and George Medrano also scored nine apiece.
For the "Orange" team, Donald Brown scored a game-high 17 points on 7 of 10 shooting from the floor, while John Griffin added 14 points and five rebounds and Chris McNaughton chipped in 10 points.
The Orange squad, which actually donned the white home jerseys for the contest, used eight straight points from Griffin to take a 27-17 lead 14 minutes into the contest. After missing its first five 3-point attempts of the night, Team Blue picked up late treys from Vegotsky and Behan to claw back within four points at 36-32 at halftime.
The Blue tied it at 36 on Vegotsky's 3-pointer just over a minute into the second half, then they took their first lead since 2-0 on a Vegotsky free throw one possession later. Later in the half, Medrano's long 3-pointer on the left wing capped a 7-0 run for the Blue squad and gave it a 51-43 lead with 10:25 to play.
The Orange team crawled back within one point on three occasions down the stretch but could never get back over the hump. McNaughton's short jumper off a Griffin dish made it 60-59 with 2:15 to play. The score was the same inside 30 seconds to play when Stephen Tyree was whistled for a foul, sending the Orange team's Rob Thomas to the line for a 1-and-1. Thomas missed the front end, and Orange fouled Mastropaolo, who sank two free throws at the other end for a 62-59 Blue lead.
Orange had one last chance to tie after inbounding under its own basket with five seconds to play, but Thomas' contested 3-point try rimmed out as time expired.
Bucknell will welcome its first opponent to Sojka Pavilion this Saturday when Mansfield comes in for an exhibition game at 7 p.m. That will be the team's final tuneup prior to the 2006-07 season opener at Albany on Nov. 11.
